My Company

Say what you want about the lumbering Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but the kids sure love it.

One of the law’s earliest – and still most popular – provisions was the expansion of health insurance for people under 26, who are now allowed to stay on their parents’ plans.

According to a story in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association – and as reported by Bloomberg, “A year after the policy began, about 31 percent of those 19 to 25 told federal researchers they were in excellent physical health, compared with 27 percent on average from 2002 to 2009, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. About 39 percent said they were in excellent mental health, a 2.5-percentage point improvement.”

It's great news for one of the law’s few bright spots. More importantly, it’s probably the only part of the law – or anything, these days, for that matter – that both parties can agree on.

Because, apparently, we can’t seem to agree on the care of our veterans (whether active or not), how to fix retirement in this country (or if it even needs it) or even how to take care of our kids (or if we’re even allowed to have them – or not). And even though it does look like we’ve got some tentative consensus forming around Iraq, I’m not gonna hold my breath.

The story follows two other pretty big poll results that dropped earlier this week.

And, honestly, how can anyone realistically argue otherwise? It’s kind of a “sky is blue” given that health care in this country is outrageously expensive, regularly outpacing inflation, all while delivery is sloppy at best. Does it justify PPACA? No. And does my acknowledgement of that flawed system make me a flaming liberal? Absolutely not. The status quo is as unsustainable as President Obama’s alleged fix for it. So what have you got?

Finally, we have the poll that honestly completely baffles me. Most Americans are apparently pleased as punch with our health care system. And you know what that tells me? They’re not paying the bills. Or at least they’re sheltered from the true cost of care. If they’re even getting any.

Oh, and one more thing that I swear we have to revisit a couple of times a year. Say it with me, “Just because we report a story doesn’t mean we are advocating a story.”

It’s why, when we report on the left-wing Commonwealth study, we tell you who it’s from. So that you can consider the source for yourself and do what you want with it. So, for all of you complaining about our reporting on that story, it’s clear you don’t know what reporting is.

The reporting is fine. Just because you don’t agree with the methodology, the pollsters or the results doesn’t mean you have to kill the messenger.